


Red stands for Fate

by Sugar_and_Salt



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternative Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Romance, maybe a little ambiguous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-18
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2019-01-27 09:15:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12578488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sugar_and_Salt/pseuds/Sugar_and_Salt
Summary: Green stands for friendship, blue for parental love.Red stands for fate. Fate leads Jongin to his soulmate, but fate didn't have to be mutual...





	Red stands for Fate

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ruiseu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ruiseu/gifts).



> I realize that this looks like I disregarded your prompt entirely, but please have faith in me! > <  
> Also I got super sick, so I couldn't devote more time to this fic... I hope you can still enjoy it!  
> This was beta'd LAST minute by the wonderful J, thank you so, so much!

Humans are chaotic and rarely good-natured. That much has been true ever since the first human roamed the earth, and it’s true now. Therefore it's easy for them to hurt each other, and there's an innumerable amount of people you encounter in your life who bring damage to you - both physical and emotional. Legends say that a kind-hearted deity of light once took pity on humans and gifted them with the ability to see and meet all those that enrich their life, so they could gather together and support each other to stay strong even in dark times. Nowadays, researchers still haven't found any other reason for the strings to exist, and Jongin hadn't even tried to find one. He had eagerly waited for them to slowly intensify to the point where he could really see them and tell them apart. They formed as he, like every other person, slowly set bars and chose pathways for his life to go along, and one day he stepped in the sunlight and saw them, still pale and faint, but there. There was a green one, and a blue one, that much was certain. Young Jongin was beyond excited, and when he reached the school and met his best friend Sehun, he dragged him into the sun to confirm that the green string indeed led to him. Green stood for friendship and now he got the confirmation that Sehun would indeed always be his friend. A few months later Sehun told him that he, too, was starting to see the strings and that he had a matching green one with Jongin. There was no way to prove it, for you could only ever see your own strings, but Jongin had no reason to doubt him. The strings had never been wrong before.

While he grew up, the strings became more intense, to the point where they resembled little lines of colorful light Jongin loved to observe whenever he was lazing in the sun. Sure, his wonder dulled down over the years, but he still treasured them deeply. He loved to watch them move, too, for they always pointed directly towards the person. Usually, if he stood in the right place, he was able to tell whether Sehun was at school or not, whether his parents were working or at home. There was one line that never moved a single bit though, and that was the red one. Green stood for friendship, blue for parental or protective love. There was orange, too, symbolizing fierce loyalty, which usually only showed up later in life. The red one led you to your soulmate though. The most important string for oh so many people. Who wouldn't want to meet their other half? Jongin, too, got curious, and one day, he walked along the string. He walked and walked, but he didn't find the person fated to be his soulmate, and eventually, he had to take a bus home.

The years flew by and the string didn't move. Jongin moved to another city to attend a nice university. Most of his strings barely moved now, and while Jongin had been pretty certain his soulmate was just too far away, he scraped up money from his part-time job to board a train one weekend. He drove, station for station, watching the unmoving string until finally, he was facing the ocean, cold wind and stray droplets of water hitting his face. On his way back, Jongin managed to tame the biting dejection. His soulmate was far, far away, but that was alright. If they were fated to be together, they would. He'd stop aggressively seeking them out for now and focus on his education. Maybe his job would lead him to wherever his soulmate was? Or maybe the soulmate would come to him. He swore to himself that if the string didn't move by the time he was 25, he'd search again, and he'd search by plane.

Jongin was 23 when he woke up to the sunlight filtering into his room, highlighting the red string that did not point towards the window, but the opposite wall. The sight had become so natural that it took Jongin a while to even notice the change, but when he did, he all but jumped out of bed and into the shower, bursting with excitement that only rose when the string kept moving, slowly but persistently, like the shadows crawling over the ground at sunset. His soulmate was close, really close! He wanted to throw away everything and search for him, but he was a responsible person who had lectures soon. Attending them turned out to be almost entirely in vain, since he only had eyes for the red string, and whenever the lecture hall was dipped in shadows, he thought of where they might be. Maybe it was an exchange student? At least his soulmate wasn't bed-ridden, as his naive younger self had assumed.

As soon as he was dismissed, Jongin hurriedly took turns until he had exited the building and could accurately follow the red line of light that had stopped moving for now. He barely watched his step and bumped into more than one person until he reached a small, Chinese café not too far from his university. Most of the tables outside were empty and Jongin watched it from across the street, staring at the red line that led towards a table hosting two people. One was dressed in all black, the other wore a pullover so yellow that the contrast was almost comical. But whom did his string point at? Jongin couldn't tell. Occasionally, the dark-haired boy seemed to glance his way and really, Jongin should probably make a move before they assumed him to be a creepy person and leave. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other until the dark-haired boy got up and went inside the café. The string didn't move, but Jongin's heart did a backflip. Quickly, he almost skipped across the street and his soulmate came into clear view. It was a kind-looking man with dusty brown hair, friendly eyes, and lips that rested in a natural smile that widened a bit as he looked up at him.

"Can I help you?" his soulmate asked, head lightly tilted in question. He was gorgeous. Jongin knew immediately that this was his soulmate. He felt it. So he bowed slightly, and the words tumbled out before he knew it.

"My red string led to you, so I thought I'd say hi! My name is Kim Jongin."

The other looked surprised, but bowed back, just a nod of his head as he was unable to break gazes with Jongin. He knew it, they were meant to be.

"Kim Jongdae," he introduced himself, and there was a fine accent shining through that Jongin hadn't noticed before. He'd also failed to notice the other boy approaching the table and only shot him a look when his soulmate nodded towards him.

"And this is Kyungsoo," he said, smile a bit tense. "My red string leads to him, actually."

Jongin's expression fell. Oh.

He hadn't... considered this. Now it felt like his whole world had cracked somewhere. What to do? He didn't know, and for a short moment that felt like forever, none of the three said a word. Jongin glanced at this Kyungsoo person, who avoided his gaze and kept it trained on the table, shoulders hunched up a bit. He tried not to feel bitter because this person was quite literally in between him and his soulmate. He didn't even look that special.

Before Jongin could dwell on this, his soulmate spoke up.

"This doesn't mean I don't want anything to do with you though! Wanna exchange numbers?"

 

* * *

 

 

That day, Jongin went home with a new number and a somewhat broken heart. Soulmates didn't have to be of a romantic nature, and yet Jongin had never assumed it would be anything other than that. But Jongin wouldn't be himself if he didn't recover quickly.

That was true, soulmates weren't guaranteed to be in romantic relationships. Maybe Jongdae and Kyungsoo weren't together like that. Maybe he still had a chance.

Being with Jongdae was so easy, it just came naturally. Jongdae was witty and easy-going, but also attentive and kind. He liked to joke around but never at Jongin's expense. He was quick to see where Jongin was vulnerable and loved to place an arm around his shoulders, drawing him in close. Quick to make Jongin feel welcomed, appreciated, maybe even loved.

Being _alone_ with Jongdae, on the other hand, was hard. Kyungsoo was always there, always following them like a shadow. Jongin didn't even know what his voice sounded like, for he never talked. If Jongdae urged him to say anything, he'd whisper his reply into his ear. Jongin could only roll his eyes at the odd guy, but Jongdae was heads over heels for the gloomy boy and wouldn't have it.

"Kyungsoo has nobody," he said one day, when Jongin managed to snatch Jongdae to himself and they leisurely walked around town.

"What do you mean?" Jongin asked, despite not being all that interested in Kyungsoo. Jongdae hummed as he thought of how to put it.

"He has never met a single person he's attached to by a string," Jongdae said finally.

"Not even one?" Jongin asked. He was about to blurt out that there would at least be a blue string attached to his parents, but then stopped himself last second. If Kyungsoo didn't even have those, it would mean that his parents were either dead or... didn't care about him that deeply.

Jongdae shook his head.

"Not a single one. Not until we met, that is - because his red string leads to me," he explained, and that stung. Yes, Jongin was both jealous and petty, and he knew it. Kyungsoo had no one but Jongdae, and yet he didn't like the idea of sharing his soulmate, of all people.

"Just try to be kind to him?" Jongdae suggested, placing an arm around Jongin's waist (whose heart skipped a beat). "I'm sure you'd get along well. He's just shy."

 

* * *

 

 

_He's just shy._

Jongin wasn't so sure about that. Today, the three of them were set to meet at a café, but when he arrived, only Kyungsoo sat at a table, with his back to him.

No, Jongin was convinced that Kyungsoo just didn't want to know him, possibly even disliked him. To be fair, Jongin had never been particularly friendly to him, so it wasn't like Kyungsoo had a reason to be any different.

Jongin silently approached the table and craned his neck to check out whatever Kyungsoo was writing. It turned out that he was drawing, sketching the café with a blue and green pencil. The lines were mostly light, vague and fleeting - not unlike the evasive nature of his, Jongin thought. He stared until a few bold lines were drawn right on top, emphasizing the darker areas. It was actually a really pretty drawing. Jongin wanted to be irked that his rival was so talented, but as a passionate dancer himself, he was aware that talent was of very little meaning when it came to fine arts, and that Kyungsoo probably just worked hard until he learnt to draw the way he did.

All of a sudden, Kyungsoo noticed him from the corner of his eye and slammed his sketchbook shut, staring at him with a slightly alarmed look. Jongin lifted his hands in a show of surrender. He wasn't out to provoke him right now.

"I saw nothing," he said airily, slipping into the chair across him. "Though there's no reason to be ashamed or anything. It looked really good," he added, casually voicing out the compliment. Not like he wanted to flatter him too much. Kyungsoo seemed to pick up on it and stared at him doubtfully. Jongin shifted in his chair, suddenly wary of the intensity of attention he wasn't used to. At least not by gloomy, silent Kyungsoo.

"Really, you can just continue sketching since Jongdae isn't here yet. I won't disturb you," Jongin offered as he reached for the café's menu and skimmed it. He took his time reading and re-reading the names of desserts and coffee creations until he heard the scraping of pencil against paper. For a long time, they just sat there in silence, with Kyungsoo sketching and Jongin pretending not to be interested in him or his drawing. One talent didn't change the fact that Kyungsoo was still his rival.

 

* * *

 

The low buzz of people and silently bubbling soup. Those were the sounds of Jongin's hopes dying. 

"So... you also kiss and stuff?" he asked, and was kinda glad that Kyungsoo wasn't there. He would probably be very smug right now. Jongdae wasn't - he just grinned playfully and held eye contact as he added some vegetables to the hot pot.

"Sometimes? Are you jealous?" he asked, and while Jongin could hardly deny that, he wasn't willing to _confirm_ it. He was feeling more and more like a third wheel. Jongdae and Kyungsoo had met years ago, back in China, where Jongdae had been diligently studying and Kyungsoo was the foreigner who had just moved there. Now that Jongdae had finished his studies (and Kyungsoo had apparently dropped his), they had moved back to Korea where they were gaining footing -Jongdae as a well-paid employee, Kyungsoo as a freelancer. It was like a picture-perfect story of two people linked by the red thread of fate. Where did Jongin fit into all this?

"If you expect a kiss, I gotta disappoint you," Jongdae said, leaning back in his chair, the grin still in place. "I don't put out on first dates."

"This isn't our first date!" Jongin protested, because with Jongdae, he was never above pouting, and neither was Jongdae. Now, though, he just laughed.

"Still, you gotta try a bit harder, Jonginnie," he teased, and Jongin put in a noble effort of looking unaffected by the endearment. If only Jongdae didn’t have such a way of getting to him.

 

It was a few weeks later that Jongin heard Kyungsoo's voice for the first time. It hadn't been planned, not at all, but one late afternoon, he met the two in a shopping mall. He'd wanted to sneak up on them, maybe scare them a little before greeting them, but then he heard an unfamiliar voice that made him stop in his tracks.

"You look like a clown, Dae, come _on_."

"Better than constantly looking like you just attended a funeral," Jongdae teased back, sticking out his tongue before tugging another obnoxiously colored piece off the rack. Jongin was completely caught off guard. Kyungsoo's voice wasn't nearly as soft and whimsical as he had expected it to be. It was deep, smooth and confident.

"I won't go out with you if you wear that thing," Kyungsoo said strictly, and Jongdae whined dramatically. A familiar sound clashing with an unfamiliar one. Kyungsoo was so... different around Jongdae. And Jongin trailed after them, silently wondering what exactly he was thinking of this new side of him. He got careless, apparently, for Jongdae suddenly locked eyes with him over Kyungsoo's shoulder. Before he could open his mouth and apologize, Jongdae turned towards his soulmate.

"So... what do you think of Jongin?" he asked, an almost smug smile ghosting around his lips, only meant for Jongin to see.

Jongin dared to inch just a little closer, while Kyungsoo sighed-

"I don't know. He _is_ kind of an arrogant prick," he said blankly, and Jongdae laughed heartily, taking all seriousness out of the air, just like that.

When Kyungsoo turned to look at Jongin, he actually turned wide-eyed and his cheeks flushed red in a matter of seconds. He wouldn't meet Jongin's eyes again for the rest of the day. The fact that he was flustered or maybe even ashamed was rather amusing to Jongin. He wasn't upset, not at all. He really had been an ass the first few weeks he had known the two, and Kyungsoo's dislike towards him was more than justified. It was just unexpectedly fun to see him voicing it like that. Maybe he just liked his voice that much. Maybe he liked seeing this side of Kyungsoo.

 

* * *

 

Today, Jongin wasn't thinking about Kyungsoo. Today was a big day, and he was beyond excited. He had been on many dates with Jongdae, even a few where they had been alone, but today was special. Jongin had specifically picked the time and place and was currently shifting his weight from one foot to the other to get rid of the cold. And maybe his nerves, too.

It was late, almost midnight, actually, and Jongin was leaning against a street lamp at the square he had asked Jongdae to meet him at. At this point, they had yet to share an actual kiss, but two days ago, Jongdae had actually _pecked him on the cheek_. Jongin definitely couldn't wait any longer with this date, he was dying of curiosity. He had to know.

When Jongdae arrived, he was huddled up in a bulky jacket, hands jammed into his pockets.

"You really do have funny ideas of ideal dates," he greeted him, making a show of exhaling a puffy breath to demonstrate just how cold it was. "You better keep me warm," he said, wearing his usual smile. Jongin would have loved to tell him that the smile alone should be warm enough for both of them, but he could never say something so cheesy. So he just linked their arms and led the way. Jongdae molded into his side with ease, and Jongin grinned like a fool.

"We actually have this tourist attraction here," he began as they walked down the familiar square. "Or maybe it's more of a couples attraction. That’s why we’re here so late, so we can get some privacy. Anyway," he quickly added, not dwelling too long on the couple aspect, "you've probably seen this mirror before, right?"

Jongdae craned his head. Indeed he'd seen it before - it was hard not to notice it as it stretched up from the ground and into a curve far above their heads, framed with intricate but modern metal shapes. Jongin followed along and gazed up to meet Jongdae's eyes through the mirror. The angle allowed them a perfect view from above. There was also nothing unusual to see.

"I've always assumed it's just art?" Jongdae asked, lowering his head to watch his own reflection in the mirror, tugging his jacket into place. Around them, multiple streetlamps were specifically lighting the mirror, dipping everything in yellowish light. Jongin took a deep breath.

"It actually has a purpose," he said, holding out his hand. Jongdae shot him a surprised look - Jongin wasn't usually the type to ask for handholding. But he followed along nonetheless, and the moment their hands touched, he noticed it. 

"Woah," he breathed out, awed and inarticulate. Jongin didn't respond, for he was too entranced himself. He had known this was going to happen, had hoped for it to not be a myth, but actually seeing the Jongdae’s strings was exhilarating. He could see them in their reflection, could see the colorful net exuding from Jongdae - so similar to his and yet so different.

"I've never seen anything like this," Jongdae said, aiming to take a step forwards, and Jongin grasped his hand even tighter so the skin contact wouldn't break.

"It only works if we hold hands," he explained, following him closer to the glass. "And you need to have a red string connecting us. The mirror basically rewards soulmates who find each other."

As if on cue, they both looked down to the red string linking them. It glowed strongly on Jongin's end, but looked rather pale on Jongdae's. For the first time ever, Jongdae seemed uncomfortable about the fact he nevertheless voiced out immediately.

"But it's one-sided."

Jongin squeezed his hands to assure him it's fine. To assure _himself_ that it was fine.

"That's alright. It still works."

Jongdae's own red string was leading away from them, and it was actual proof that Jongin was indeed not his soulmate. It stung a bit, against all rationality. Still, there was another string connecting them, and Jongdae grasped his other hand, too, as his eyes remained glued to the reflection. As if that would make the sensation even more clear.

"What does a golden string mean?" he asked. Jongin was feeling the warmth of his fingers, but his gaze lingered on the reflection in the mirror.

"I don't know," he said honestly.

He had never heard of a golden string. Yet there it was, connecting the two and glowing brightly. Maybe things would turn out alright, after all, Jongin thought. Then he remembered Kyungsoo. He almost expected the strings to flicker and vanish in response to his unfaithful thoughts, but the golden string remained strong. Unwavering. A deep, warm shade of honey.

 

* * *

 

He severely regretted forgetting his umbrella.  
With an unhappy frown, Jongin tugged the jacket over his head as he walked down the street with brisk steps. They were scheduled to meet at a café, all three of them, and he didn't want to look like a pitiful, wet poodle in front of the other two. He wanted to look handsome to Jongdae, and somehow, his pride wouldn't allow him to look bad in front of Kyungsoo, either.

He had just finished that thought when he spotted Kyungsoo a few steps ahead of him. It looked like he was squabbling with a group of rowdy men. Instinctively, Jongin pressed himself into a wall to avoid the rain as he observed the situation. It seemed like they had taken away his umbrella, holding it out of his reach and taunting him. Kyungsoo actually didn't cower back and complained, yelling something Jongin didn't quite get over the heavy white noise of rain. He was worried they might get physical, but in the end, Kyungsoo turned to stalk away, looking mad and frustrated. Jongin started to slowly walk after him, jacket still held high above his head. The rain was strong enough to drench Kyungsoo almost immediately, and this should feel kind of good, right? His rival was chased by bad luck Jongin wasn't responsible for and should therefore not feel guilty about. So why didn't he feel even the tiniest spark of glee?

A few seconds passed and then Jongin gave himself a push and picked up his pace to catch up with him. Wordlessly, he held his jacket above both their heads, pulling the already shivering boy into his side. Kyungsoo's head whipped up, shooting him the wide-eyed look he had seen on so many diverse occasions - this time, it was genuine surprise that melted into something Jongin didn't have a name for. It was quite useless, trying to protect them both with a single jacket, but Kyungsoo silently leaned into his side, soft, willing and trusting. It was so surprising that Jongin couldn't help but think how Kyungsoo fit into his side even more naturally than Jongdae. The brain went to weird places sometimes.

In fact, it lingered on Kyungsoo for the rest of the evening, no matter how funny the jokes Jongdae told. Jongin's attention seeped through his fingers like sand and returned to Kyungsoo, whose warm gaze was only ever directed at Jongdae, but who was sitting closer to him than ever, their still slightly damp sides almost touching.

This was so confusing.

 

* * *

 

Jongin had still not been able to lift the confusion and comprehend what exactly was going on inside his heart and mind when Jongdae cut his fruitless guessing short one day.

"I wanna meet you again tonight," he announced, and it might be the first time he had requested a date all on his own accord. It was also the first time Jongin had seen him so somber. It unsettled him.

"At the square with the high mirror. Around midnight again."

 Jongdae refused to say any more about this, and while Jongin was burning with curiosity, he already knew he wasn't going to disappoint him. Jongdae never asked for anything. He was wondering whether he found out about the golden string and its meaning as he checked his own appearance in the mirror in the square hours later. Jongdae had yet to arrive, so there was no harm in righting his hair one last time-

"You stay right here," he heard Jongdae's voice say and turned to see both him and Kyungsoo. Jongdae was holding the other by his upper arm, looking almost stern, but also... hurt?

Jongin was confused yet again. Kyungsoo looked reluctant, regretful and overall miserable as he weakly tried to tug himself free.

"What's going on? You're forcing him to attend our date? You're that scared of being alone with me?" Jongin joked, but it was half-hearted, for the worry on both their faces looked a bit _too_ real. Jongdae still indulged him with a smile, albeit a strained one.

"That's not it," he said softly, eyes dropping to the ground. He was still holding Kyungsoo, pushing him in front of himself, and the latter had ceased struggling.

"You see, Kyungsoo lied to me," Jongdae said, and now his smile was downright painful to see. Kyungsoo's gaze remained lowered, shoulders tense. Jongin was torn between whom to care for right now.

"What happened? I don't understand what's going on," he admitted, and Jongdae nudged Kyungsoo a last time, pushing him towards Jongin.

"I was excited and took Kyungsoo to visit the mirror, but..." he began, trailing off to suddenly change directions, "-you need to hold hands."

Jongin really wanted an explanation, and it seemed like no one was willing to provide it.

"It won't work without a red thread on either side-"

"Jongin, _please_. Just do it," Jongdae said almost weakly, and Jongin obeyed before his brain registered it, offering his hand to Kyungsoo. The other refused to take it, and when Jongin grabbed his fingers, he panicked.

"No-"

But it was too late. There, in the mirror, Jongin saw the strings.

Kyungsoo did have them, after all - there was one in green, another in blue, orange, and every color he had ever learnt of at school. A red one, too.

They all led Jongin. Every single one of them.

He had never seen anything like it and was too stunned to say a single word.

Kyungsoo seemed to shrink in on himself, refusing eye contact.

"I'm sorry I lied," he said quietly, and it wasn't meant for Jongin, didn't even sound like it was the first time he'd said it. "You really mean the world to me," he added, and it stung. Jongin felt confused, unreasonable and like an overall awful person.

"I didn't want to disappoint you, that's why I said it."

Jongin was still staring at the colorful bundle of light connecting them. Some were already glowing on both ends, like the blue one.

Finally, he forced himself to look at Kyungsoo.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked slowly, full of disbelief. He saw his shoulders shake, felt his fingers digging into his.

"You hated me," he uttered, a miserable attempt at sounding casual. "You hated me, but you're... _everything_ to me."

His voice was strained and shaky, and finally broke, along with Kyungsoo himself.

" _You're everything_ ," he repeated, holding him tightly now, as if he was scared Jongin would pull away any moment. But he didn't, didn't even want to. Yes, he had heavily disliked Kyungsoo for being in between him and his soulmate, but he had never managed to _hate_ him. Had never managed to wish real harm upon him, had been silently drawn to him right from the start, whether he wanted to be or not. Now the other was at his complete mercy - such a usually strong individual who was ready to fight the whole world and who had been living with the constant knowledge that there was only one person destined to be on his side, and that person had never even tried to find him. Jongin was baffled, stunned into silence as he tried to really grasp this. When he found his voice, he muttered the first thing coming to mind.

"I'm sorry. I was being the shittiest... everything ever. I failed on every level," he said dumbly, and now it was his turn to hold Kyungsoo's hands tightly, to keep him with him. Kyungsoo shook his head.

"You don’t owe me anything," he whispered.

"But I do! I want to be... someone for you," Jongin stuttered, stumbling over his words as he genuinely didn't know what he wanted. "I don't- I can't really promise anything, but I've been thinking about this for awhile, and-"

At these words, Kyungsoo glanced at him, and then at Jongdae. Oh. Jongin looked back at the other, who was still wearing a meaningless, empty smile as he watched the scene play out. Jongin ripped one hand free and ruffled his hair. This was so weird and complicated.

"It's okay, don't mind me," Jongdae said, taking a step back. "I can go on ahead, if you want to. It seems like," he began, hesitated, but finally said it out loud, "it seems like my fate was to bring the two of you together."

He looked like he was just a hair's width away from dropping his facade as he forced himself to accept this fate of his. Without even a shared look, both Jongin and Kyungsoo extended their hand to him.

"Don't go," Kyungsoo said simply, a silent plea slumbering in between the syllables. Jongin tried to go for a reassuring smile, the same one Jongdae had given him so many times. It turned out wobbly and uncertain.

"This doesn't mean we don't want anything to do with you," he said playfully, dearly hoping he wasn't taking this too far. Kyungsoo and him shared a look, and, for the first time, a smile. A real, genuine smile. Maybe there were a lot of things they had in common - surely, they'd find out about them in the future. But the first and most obvious one, they discovered right then and there.

Jongdae hesitated, but ultimately took both their hands, and more strings lit up in the mirror's reflection. It was true. There was a red thread connecting them all. A perfectly one-sided red triangle. Then there were Kyungsoo's unusual strings that all led to Jongin. Though now that Jongdae had taken a step in between them, instead of standing almost behind Kyungsoo, there was another string actually linking Kyungsoo and Jongdae. It was of a pure gold.  


Now what did the gold string mean?

The three took their time finding an answer to that. It took one fateful day, where Jongin finally mustered up the courage to kiss Kyungsoo, careful and shy, all fluttering nerves and soft lips mapping each other out. That day, they discovered the golden string between them that was definitely separate from a very similar-looking, yellow one, symbolizing generosity. People like to assume their yellow strings were just randomly darker, but the three knew better. This one didn't stand for generosity. It didn't stand for fate. It stood for love.  
An oddly one-sided red triangle was now steadied by a bravely glowing golden one.  
So maybe love and fate really weren't necessarily the same thing, after all. That would only make them luckier though.

Red and gold aside though, Jongin treasured all the colors. He wanted to learn to be a good friend to Kyungsoo. Someone who protected him, someone who stood by his side no matter what. A friend, a family member, a soulmate - he wanted to be all of that and more. And whenever Kyungsoo rolled his eyes at him, teasingly pushed him around or pulled him close, whenever he smiled this care-free, heart-shaped smile of his, Jongin knew that everything was _right_. Maybe fate had really blessed them.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Surprise (maybe?)  
> I only switched Jongin's and Kyungsoo's roles in your prompt, to make Kyungsoo's role more impactful...! I'm really sorry if this isn't what you expected, I just wanted to make this story a little unpredictable by telling it from a maybe unusual point of view?  
> ...I'm not even making sense anymore. But I'd love to write Kyungsoo's pov to this one day.  
> Anyway, you're amazing for sticking through kaisoommer despite getting your exchange fic so late, so I'm sorry if this isn't what you expected. Still, much love! <3
> 
> P.S.: My beta wondered what the golden strings mean, but they do stand for love *haha*


End file.
